In the past, cars were manufactured having separate frame and body members which were welded, riveted or otherwise connected together to result in the final car body. Today, in America alone, there was well over 30 million domestic and foreign made cars totally different from the permimeter-frame vehicles of the past. These cars are called unibodies because the frame and body are a single unit. They are constructed of very thin metal instead of the heavy steel frames previously used.
The unibody is a design based on new and changing technology which employs different materials--aluminum, plastics, high strength low alloy steels i.e., materials to make cars lighter, and therefore more fuel efficient.
In order to meet this growing trend towards unibody construction, various repair systems have been developed. One such system, the Paulee Universal Auto Body Repair System, is marketed in the United States by the Paulee Equipment Sales, Inc. Company of Los Angeles, Calif. This is a universal bench which can be used for straightening, checking and assembling damaged car bodies, as well as traditional service work including wheel alignment. Similar bench systems exist which provide not only the damaged car body repair capability but also the standard car services.
Another similar bench system is the so called "car bench" system marketed in the United States by Unicar Industries, Inc., 400 Farmingdale Road, West Babylon, N.Y.
In order to adapt the unibody bench to wheel alignment, previous alignment schemes required extremely cumbersome, special bed plate and trolley arrangements which were not only awkward and heavy but also extremely expensive not only in fabrication but as well in installation. Because of their size and extreme weight, they require two men to adapt the system for wheel alignment.
It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a wheel alignment adapter system designed especially for bench type unibody systems which is light weight, simple, relatively inexpensive to fabricate, and which requires only one man to install.